The Chinese military today began real fire exercises near Taiwan, keeping pressure on the island, which said it was closely monitoring the maneuvers, describing them as "a threat" to regional stability.
Beijing organized large-scale maneuvers in mid-October, with a record number of aircraft and military ships simulating a blockade of the island. Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked troops to be ready for war.
On Monday, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration in Pingtan, a city in the Chinese province of Fujian, announced that real ammunition had been fired for four hours from 09h00 (02h00 in Lisbon), in an area of about 150 square kilometers .
Pingtan is the closest mainland Chinese town to Taiwan. The area for the shots is located about a hundred kilometers from the island.
The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration in Pingtan did not specify who would carry out the shots or what the target was.
In response to these exercises, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it was closely monitoring China's "military activities and intentions".
Taipei said the exercises may be part of Beijing's "tactics to reinforce intimidation" in the Taiwan Strait. Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai described them as a "threat that undermines regional peace and stability".
Over the weekend, two warships, one American and one Canadian, crossed the 180-kilometer-long Taiwan Strait as part of regular crossings made by Washington and allies to strengthen the status of an international navigable route.
Beijing condemned the passage, saying it disrupted "peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait".
The mid-October exercises, dubbed Joint Sword-2024B, involving fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles ("drones"), warships and coast guards, took place in areas north, south and east of Taiwan.
Last week, Xi Jinping asked troops to step up war preparations during a visit to the army's missile force, the official press reported.
Taiwan - where the Chinese Nationalist army retreated after being defeated by communist troops in the civil war - has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a province of its own.
